Lauren Busfield, MSW, LCSW, DSW

Assistant Professor, Program Chairperson

Dr. Busfield is a clinical social worker, working both in private practice and the non-profit sector, where she has been serving as a field supervisor for both BSW and MSW students for several years. She has been working with adolescents, children, and their families in a variety of therapeutic environments, including outpatient, hospice, and inpatient/partial hospitalization programs.

Dr. Busfield completed her Doctorate in Social Work at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Master's in Social Work at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. For the last several years, she has been researching, publishing and presenting on ways in which technology impacts the culture of young people, their mental health, their family relationships, and their development. She runs a resource and research site for parents and mental health professionals raising and working with children who are growing up in a digital world.

Dr. Busfield has also published articles and given presentations related to intersectionality and trauma, especially as related to adolescent development.

Sarah B. Michalowski, DSW, LCSW

Assistant Professor, Director of Field Education

Dr. Michalowski is a clinical social worker and social work supervisor currently working in private practice. She has 15 years of experience in working with children, adolescents, and adults who have experienced trauma and other related mental health disorders in trauma, outpatient and in-home settings. She is trained in EMDR Level I and II, and Trauma-Focused CBT. She has served as an adjunct professor and external field instructor for several years.

Dr. Michalowski completed her Doctorate in Social Work at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, her Master's in Social Work at Columbia University, and her Bachelor's in Social Work at Seton Hall University. In the DSW program, her work consisted of a case study, "The Clinical Stew: Two Children’s Response to Treatment Within a Family System of Multiple and Complex Trauma" and a Multimedia Multi-Perspectival Project "What is Forgiveness in Social Work?" both of which she shares with her students.

With colleagues, she published "Categorization of abuse criteria by expert ratings and the elusive diagnosis of abuse." Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology, 5, 182-193 (2013). She has also presented on Multidisciplinary Team approaches in child sexual abuse that strengthens community responses for professionals, victims and their families (2010) with a prior supervisor.

Dr. Michalowski has volunteered with multiple faith-based non-profit organizations, traveling to Lourdes, France; Kentucky; New Orleans; The Jersey Shore; and West Virginia while educating for social justice. Her most recent trip was to Matamoros, Mexico to provide holistic trauma support through yoga and art therapy to the asylum seekers.

As a Registered Yoga Teacher, with additional trainings, in Yin Yoga (100 hr.), Reiki Level 2, pranayama techniques, and Yoga Nidra, Dr. Michalowski's current interests involve the connection between yoga and holistic health with social work/mental health. Other interests include photography, mountain biking, hiking, and paddle boarding.